Pinch gesture to navigate application layers
View Patent ↗Using pinch gestures to navigate user interface layers of an application. In particular embodiments, a pinch gesture may cause an application program to close a currently running user interface layer of the application and navigate to another user-interface layer of the application. In some implementations, a pinch gesture may cause an application to close.
1. A method comprising:
by a computing device, receiving user input comprising a two-dimensional pinch event on a user interface of an application executing on the computing device, the application comprising one or more user-interface layers in a navigation hierarchy;
by a computing device, determining whether an object in the user interface is scalable;
by a computing device, in response to a determination that the object is scalable, scaling the object based on the pinch event;
by the computing device, in response to a determination that the object is not scalable:
by a computing device, determining a user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event; and
by a computing device:
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is a root layer of the navigation hierarchy, then terminating presentation of the application on the computing device; and
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is not the root layer of the navigation hierarchy, then closing the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event and navigating to another user-interface layer of the application.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein navigating to another user-interface layer of the application comprises:
determining whether a navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application; and:
when the navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application, navigating to the previous user-interface layer of the application identified in the navigation history; or
when the navigation history does not exist, navigating to the root layer of the navigation hierarchy.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein terminating presentation of the application on the computing device comprises terminating execution of the application on the computing device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein terminating presentation of the application on the computing device comprises closing the application and leaving one or more components of the application in a random-access memory of the computing device.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when the user-interface layer of the application comprises a selected layer type, implementing a zoom-out function in response to the pinch event.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pinch event comprises an in-pinch event.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein navigating to another user-interface layer of the application comprises navigating to a sibling user-interface layer of the user interface layer corresponding to the pinch event.
8. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:
receive user input comprising a two-dimensional pinch event on a user interface of an application executing on a computing device, the application comprising one or more user-interface layers in a navigation hierarchy;
determine whether an object in the user interface is scalable;
in response to a determination that the object is scalable, scale the object based on the pinch event;
in response to a determination that the object is not scalable:
determine a user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event; and
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is a root layer of the navigation hierarchy, terminate presentation of the application on the computing device; and
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is not the root layer of the navigation hierarchy, close the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event and navigate to another user-interface layer of the application.
9. The media of claim 8 , wherein the software that is operable when executed to navigate to another user-interface layer of the application comprises software that is operable when executed to:
determine whether a navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application; and:
when the navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application, navigate to the previous user-interface layer of the application identified in the navigation history; and
when the navigation history does not exist, navigate to the root layer of the navigation hierarchy.
10. The media of claim 8 , wherein the software that is operable when executed to terminate presentation of the application on the computing device comprises software that is operable when executed to terminate execution of the application on the computing device.
11. The media of claim 8 , wherein the software that is operable when executed to terminate presentation of the application on the computing device comprises software that is operable when executed to:
close the application; and
leave one or more components of the application in a random-access memory of the computing device.
12. The media of claim 8 , wherein the software is further operable when executed to:
when the user-interface layer of the application comprises a selected layer type, implement a zoom-out function in response to the pinch event.
13. The media of claim 8 , wherein the pinch event comprises an in-pinch event.
14. The media of claim 8 , wherein the software that is operable when executed to navigate to another user-interface layer of the application comprises software that is operable when executed to navigate to a sibling user-interface layer of the user interface layer corresponding to the pinch event.
15. A system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to:
receive user input comprising a two-dimensional pinch event on a user interface of an application executing on a computing device, the application comprising one or more user-interface layers in a navigation hierarchy;
determine whether an object in the user interface is scalable;
in response to a determination that the object is scalable, scale the object based on the pinch event;
in response to a determination that the object is not scalable:
determine a user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event; and
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is a root layer of the navigation hierarchy, terminate presentation of the application on the computing device; and
when the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event is not the root layer of the navigation hierarchy, close the user-interface layer of the application corresponding to the pinch event and navigate to another user-interface layer of the application.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processors that are operable when executing the instructions to navigate to another user-interface layer of the application comprise processors that are operable when executing the instructions to:
determine whether a navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application; and:
when the navigation history identifies a previous user-interface layer of the application, navigate to the previous user-interface layer of the application identified in the navigation history; and
when the navigation history does not exist, navigate to the root layer of the navigation hierarchy.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processors that are operable when executing the instructions to terminate presentation of the application on the computing device comprise processors that are operable when executing the instructions to terminate execution of the application on the computing device.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processors that are operable when executing the instructions to terminate presentation of the application on the computing device comprise processors that are operable when executing the instructions to:
close the application; and
leave one or more components of the application in a random-access memory of the computing device.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:
when the user-interface layer of the application comprises a selected layer type, implement a zoom-out function in response to the pinch event.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the pinch event comprises an in-pinch event.